Splice bar



Jly 2, 1929. E. E. scHMlD ET Al. 1.719.626v sPLI-CEBAR Filed June 9, 1927 Patented July 2, 1929.

UNITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE.l

ERNEST E. SCHMID,KDECEASED, LATE OF HOLLIS, NEW YORK, BY CHLORITA SCOFIELD SCHMID, EXECUTRIX, OF HOLLIS, NEW YORK, AND WILLIAM H. SG11-IINLIDER,V 0F

FREEPORT, NEW YORK.

SPLICE BAR.

Application 'led June 9, 1927. Serial No. 197,556.

This invention relates to a splice bar for third rails of electric railways particularly designed for third rails of T bar construction.

The usual method of joining the T bars or T rails forming the Vthird rail of an electric railway is by means of two splicing bars, one on each side of the rail and bolted together, the bolts passing thru the holes in the T bar or rails and the splicing bars. The bars usually iish part of the under side of the top flange of the T and in addition thereto, contact with the sides of the web of the bar by means of projections on the fish plates. If the bolts remain tight the joint holds, but if one of these bars becomesfloose due to loose bolts and the natural wear between the parts every time a contact shoe passes over, the joint frees itself from the fishing surface and permits both horizontal and vertical movement of the T thereby throwing the running surface of the T bar or rail out of alignment. This enables the third rail Contact shoe which rides the running surface of the T to strike the high T bar at the joint. and if the shoes do not break, it often produces a blow of suiiicientstrength to cause over-turning of the third rail.

It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention to provide a one piece, double splice bar that will rigidly and permanently retain the adjoining ends of the T bars in the same vertical position to present a smooth running surface'for a contact shoe.

It is another' object of this invention to provide a single piece double splice bar for railway rail joints that will permit the horizontal movement due to changes in temperature but will prevent any vertical movement.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a more economical and more effective splice bar for T rails that will be easier to apply and will be more 'permanent in` character.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a splice bar for an inverted T bar in which the adjoining rail ends will be resiliently supported in a relatively uniform vertical position.

Another objectof this invention is to provide a unitary splice bar for the adjoining ends of a railway rail in which all of the side parte are relatively clear from falling objects,

act as a shoulder therefor.

Further objects and advantages of the inl vention will appear in the following description of the attached drawings which illustrate one preferred form of embodiment to which the invention is adaptable, and in which- Fig. l is a vertical section thru the T rail and an improved splice bar ysubstantially on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a splice bar showing its adaptation yto the adjoining ends of T rails.

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the'elongated slot in the splice bar. j

Fig. 4 is a vertical section similar to Fig; 1 but showing a modified form of clamping means.

The common T rail 10A is particularly adapted for use in connectiony with the third rail electric systems to conduct electrical current for electric railways because of the large contact surface provided at low cost.

As is well known in commercial practice,V the railway vehicle 1s provided with a con-V tact shoe which rides on the surface of this T rail and completes the circuit for the operating motors. As shown in Fig. 2 the adjoining ends 10a and l()b of similar rails are clamped on each side by the single piece,

double clamp or splice bar 12 which forms the substance of this invention.

The clamp or splice bar 12 as shown in Fig. l is substantially U shaped in vertical section with the upper ends 12a fiared over to receive the iange of the T bar l()V and The side portions 12b closely embrace the web of the T and are perforated as at 14 to correspond with perforations l0b in the web. The perforations in the splice bar 12 may be elliptical in shape as shown in Fig. 3 in order to permit the necessary longitudinal expansion and contraction of the rail 10 due to changes in temperatures and to take the ordinary track bolt. 16. This bolt is provided with a lock washer 17 and a nut 18 screw threaded thereon and passes thru the corresponding apertures in the splice bar and rail. When tightened it will permanently and rigidly retain the clamping bar to the rail.

It will thus be obvious that with the necessary bolts properly tightened in the adjoining ends of the T bar 10 and thru the yclamping bar 12, the ends of the rail will be held in permanent position. The flared endslf of the clamping bar 12 will directly support the ends of the T rails in the same relative height and the resilient portion 12C joining the bottom of the side portions 12b being enlarged and spaced from the bottom of the T rail will act as a cushion and absorb substantially all of the sudden shocks caused by the contact shoe (not shown) on the railway car.

lf one of the bolts should become loose, the clamping action due to the spring effect of the outwardly flared sides 12 which are so bent that when drawn inward, they exert a clamping and wedging action, would be suflicient to maintain a secure joint. If all the bolts should become loosened, the most eX- treme condition, the rails 10n and 10b could drop only to the intermediate portion 12c of the clamps which is normally located about 1/16 below the bottom of the rails. No harmful result will occur. It is to be understood that the portion 12c is only depressed enough to provide easy attachment and assembly of the splice bar, leaving only a minimum clearance below the bettoin of the rails. Such construction permits such eXtreme conditions of one rail dropping to the depressed portion 12c without substantially affecting the vertical position of the rail end and thus not interfering with the contact of the contact shoes.

The round headed track bolt 16 provided with shoulders to engage cooperating parts in the splice bar is used to prevent the turning of the head when the nut 18 is tightened as shown in Fig. 1. However, a slight modification of the splice bar 22 as shown in Fig. l

Y in which the side portion 22b is formedfby bar or be obstructed in any other way, thus l preventing short circuits or overturned third rails or other accidents which disrupt electric railway service.

@ne of the advantages of the single piece U shaped double splice bar besides affording quick and ready attachment to the T rail, is that it permits a lighter' material to be used. This is due to the fact that the lower upset portion 12c of the splice bar 12 strengthens the section and it also acts as a resilient cushion as before mentioned. The space between the end of the web and the top of the portion 12c permits vertical expansion of the rail as the elliptical bolt holes allow horizontal expansion. The splice bar is preferably constructed as a sheet metal stamping and galvanized to resist corrosion, being of one piece it is easily slipped over the bottom leg` of the T rail and may be secured in place by one man whereas the ordinary double two-pieced splice bar needs the services of two men to eliiciently make a splice.

From the foregoing detailed description, it

is clear that a highly improved splice bar is provided in which the parts will not become dislodged, will permit changes in length of the rail due to the elliptical bolt holes, will support the adjoining rail heads in the same plane, will permit the use of square headed machine bolts by preventing the heads turning, will prevent the common accidents due to variations in height of the adj oining rail ends and will not obstruct the contact shoes which frequently break olf in service, thus vastly improvingthird rail operating conditions.

While there has been disclosed a particular form of splice bar for a rail joint to which the invention is especially adapted, it is to be understood that the same type of splice bar may be applied to T rails and that the invention is not to be limited to these specific details and, therefore, protection is desired on the broad scope and spirit of the invention as described herein and as claimed in the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. In a rail joint of the class described, in combination with the adjoining endsof two inverted T rails, a. one piece reversely bent splice bar closely embracing the flange and web portions of the rail to prevent vertical movement of the rail ends, and securing inc :lins extending through said splice bar and rai s.

2. In a rail joint of the class described, in combination with the adjoining ends of two inverted T rails, a single sheet metal splice bar closely embracing the lower portion of the flange and the web of said rails to prevent vertical movement and means to prevent eX- cessive longitudinal movement thereof.

3. In a rail joint of the class described, in combination with the adjoining ends of two rails, a U-shaped splice bar having splice bolts therein. the upper ends of said bar being adapted to closely embrace the lower side of the flange and the `fillets, the intermediate portion of the splice bar being disposed slightly below the base of the rails to prevent vertical misalignment of the splice bar due to loosencss of the splice bolts, said splice bar adapted to he confined within the horizontal projections of the rail.

4. In a rail joint of the class described in combination with the adjoining ends of inverted T rails, a U shaped splicebar to clamp ingly embrace the web and under fiange of the rail, the connecting portion of the clamp being depressed below the bottom` of the web to afford a resilient and reinforcing connection and one of the side portions being offset to prevent rotation of the connecting bolts.

5. In a rail joint of the class described, in combination with a pair of adjoining rail lll) ends, a U shaped sheet metal splice bar to retain the ends together, the said splice bar being provided With elliptical holes in the sides thereof to permit changes in length of the rails due to changes in temperature and to prevent the common track bolts from turning.

6. In rail joint of the class described, in combination with a pair of adjoining T rail ends, one piece U shaped sheet metal splice bar to permanently clamp the sections together and means to tighten said splice bar, said means being held from rotation by square shoulders positively held, the splice bar being shaped to the rail to leave an unobstructed side exposed to a contact shoe.

7. A splice bar for electric third rails, comprising al one piece U shaped sheet metal member with the legs of the U shaped to conform to the under portion of the head and the sides of the rail, and the base of the U resiliently connecting the legs together.

8. A sheetmetal splice bar for electric third T rails, comprisingapair ofsideplates ada-pt-V ed to contact with the sides and head of the rail, bolt holes through the side bars adapted to register with the holes in the rail, and an integral sheet metal portion to extend underneath the rail connecting the side plates into a unitary structure.

9. A sheet metal splice bar for electric third T rails, comprising a pair of side plates adapted to contact with the sides and head of the rail, bolt holes through the side bars adapted to register with the holes in the rail, means to prevent bolts passed through said holes from turning when a nut is tightened thereon, and an integral sheet metal portion to extend underneath the rail connecting the side plates into a unitary structure.

10. An article of manufacture for third rails, comprising a one piece sheet metal splice bar of U shape, the sides of the U embracing the rail and the intermediate portion being enlarged and depressed below the web of said rail sufficient to permit assembly and entirely Within the vert-ical projections of the rail, said splice bar being adapted to slip transversely onto said rails.

11. An article of manufacture for electric third rails comprising a one piece sheet Inet-al U shaped splice bar, the sides of which are adapted to closely embrace a rail and the intermediate portion of which reinforces the bar and resiliently connects the sides.

12. In a rail joint of the class described, in combination with the adjoining ends of two inverted T rails, a single sheet metal splicebar closely embracing the lower portion of the web portion of said rails to prevent vertical movement thereof and positive means to prevent excessive longitudinal movement of said rail ends. Y

13. In a rail joint of the class described in combination with the adjoining ends of two rails, a U-shaped splice bar, having splice bolts therein, said bar being adapted to closely embrace the lower portion of the web of said rails, and to be supported by said rails, the intermediate portion of the splice bar being disposed slightly below the base of the raft-ils to prevent vertical misalignment there* o 14. A splice bar Vfor electric third rails, comprising a one-piece U-shaped sheet metal member with 'the legs thereof shaped to conform to the sides of the rail and the base of the U resiliently connecting the legs together.

15. A sheet metal splice bar for electric third T-rails comprising a pair of side plates adapted to extend closely adjacent and in Contact with the sides of the web portion of the rail, the side bars being provided with holes adapted to register with the holes in the rail, means to prevent bolts passed throughV said holes from turning when a nut is tightened thereon and an integral sheet metal portion adapted to extend underneath the rail connecting the side plates to form a unitary structure.

In testimony whereof, I Vhave aflixed my signature to this specification.

GHLORITA SGOFIELD SCHMID,

Eeeutri of the Last Will mel Testament of Ernest E. Salam/id, Deceased.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature to this specification.

WILLIAM I-I. SCHNEIDER. 

